Moving out was not the point. He actually wanted to get away from his elder brother too.
The more dazzling his elder brother became, the more envy, jealousy, and resentment filled his heart. Living with him for so long, he even feared he would bottle it all up until it made him sick.
But he was still afraid of his father's authority, terrified that his father would lose all hope in him and disown him as a son.
"Hmph, good!" Yu Yuanzhen glared fiercely at Yu Xiaogang, then said gravely, "Follow me."
With that, he led the way out of the separate courtyard where the brothers lived.
Yu Xuan hurried after him and asked as they walked, "Father, do you remember the herb we picked in the secret realm?"
Secret realm? What secret realm? Big brother actually didn't tell me!
Yu Xiaogang was displeased. Though he did not understand what a secret realm was, his instincts told him it was something important.
Yu Yuanzhen said, "Of course I remember. After we obtained that herb, I made time to look through the clan's books on medicinal plants, but I found nothing."
Although the herb was the only plant in a secret realm and looked precious, he had not learned its properties, so naturally he did not dare let Yu Xuan take it.
Yu Xuan suggested, "Father, since our clan's books have no record of that herb, why don't we borrow books on medicinal plants from other families?"
"Preferably families that specialize in refining medicine or cultivating herbs?"
"Families that specialize in refining medicine?"
An affiliated family of the Clear Sky Sect suddenly came to Yu Yuanzhen's mind-the Breaking Clan.
He had heard that the Breaking Clan had been skilled in refining medicine and making poisons for generations, and knew nearly ninety-nine percent of the medicinal herbs and poisonous plants on the continent.
If he could look through their family's books, he might actually find information about that stalk of fire spinach.
"That makes sense. I'll send clan disciples to the Clear Sky Sect to discuss it another day. One of the families affiliated with the Clear Sky Sect is skilled in refining medicine. Perhaps we can get hold of that family's books." Yu Yuanzhen smiled.
"That's wonderful." Yu Xuan's heart leaped. He guessed that the family his father spoke of had to be the Breaking Clan. That family definitely knew about Immortal Herbs.
If he could look through their books on Immortal Herbs, he would not be at a loss when he went to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
He would not be like Dugu Bo, unable to recognize a single Immortal Herb.
As they talked and laughed, Yu Yuanzhen led the two of them to the entrance of a building with a covered walkway.
The words "Training Hall" were inscribed above the doorway in bold, swooping strokes, like dragons flying and phoenixes dancing.
"The fifth elder is inside. I'll take you to see him."
Smiling, Yu Yuanzhen pushed open the doors.
The two followed him inside. A vast, lofty space came into view, with a floor of thick hardwood planks, a large fighting platform in the center, and several stone locks, hanging beast-hide sandbags, and pieces of training equipment off to one side...
"Yu Luowu greets the clan leader." A middle-aged man hurried forward and bowed when he saw Yu Yuanzhen arrive.
Several children stood behind him, all of them children who had awakened their Martial Souls that day.
It seemed that all children who awakened their Martial Souls had to come here to train in combat techniques.
Yu Yuanzhen raised a hand slightly and said with a smile, "No need for formalities, Fifth. I'm leaving my two sons in your care."
"Rest assured, Clan Leader. I'll make sure to teach the young clan leader and Yu Xiaogang properly." Yu Luowu thumped his chest and made his promise.
"Young clan leader?" Yu Xiaogang frowned and looked at his elder brother with suspicion.
"Yu Xiaogang, Xiao Xuan was named young clan leader the day he awakened his Fire Dragon King Martial Soul. You may be the young clan leader's younger brother, but that doesn't mean you can do as you please. The distinction between superior and subordinate must not be disregarded," Yu Luowu warned, glancing at him.
"Ahem, Fifth is right. Things are different now. Xiaogang, I won't insist that you hold your elder brother in awe, but you must listen to him and not interfere with his cultivation."
Remembering Yu Xiaogang's despondent state of mind, Yu Yuanzhen feared he would affect Yu Xuan and made sure to warn him.
"I..." Yu Xiaogang was left speechless and quickly bowed his head.
His heart shook. His elder brother had said nothing about it before, yet he already held such a high position in the clan?
Fire Dragon King, young clan leader?
What's a Fire Dragon King?
Wasn't big brother's Martial Soul an ordinary fire dragon?
Young clan leader... does that mean Dad has chosen him as the next heir?
Yu Xiaogang raised his head slightly and glanced at his calm-faced elder brother from the corner of his eye. Envy, jealousy, and hatred churned in his eyes, almost spilling over!
Damn it!
We're twins, so why does big brother have such talent, while I awakened a mutated pig Martial Soul?
This isn't fair!
Big brother must have stolen my talent, stolen the life I should have had!
You selfish thief!
Yu Xiaogang lowered his head even further, blaming Yu Xuan in his heart.
"Fifth, I'll leave the children for you to teach. I'll be going now." Yu Yuanzhen gave the two children one last look, then turned and left.
After seeing the clan leader off, Yu Luowu looked at Yu Xuan and Yu Xiaogang. Seeing that Yu Xiaogang was still acting like a quail with his neck tucked in, he immediately frowned. "Yu Xiaogang, raise your head and face me!"
"All... all right, Fifth Uncle." Yu Xiaogang timidly raised his head and met Yu Luowu's gaze.
Yu Luowu said, "From now on, don't keep your head down all the time in this training hall. Understand?"
"Yes, I understand." Yu Xiaogang nodded repeatedly.
"Very good. This is the first time any of you have trained in combat techniques. Now, all of you come over here."
Yu Luowu looked away from Yu Xiaogang and turned to the other Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan disciples.
Once those disciples had come over, Yu Luowu said, "For beginners, we'll start with boxing."
As he spoke, he raised both hands. "Bring your hands up naturally, level with your eyes. Let your elbows hang straight down, keep your center of gravity between your legs, straighten your back, and tuck in your chin."
"Keep your eyes on what's in front of you and curl your four fingers into fists... Start with a straight left. Don't move your rear foot; step forward..."
With Yu Luowu instructing them in words and demonstrating, everyone took turns throwing a few punches.
"Very good! Young clan leader, you're exceptionally gifted. You learned it after seeing it only once."
"The rest of you did well too. Your punching form wasn't correct, and you couldn't put your full strength into your blows, but after I corrected you, you've begun to look the part."
"Hmph! Yu Xiaogang, what's wrong with you? You really are trash! I've shown you nearly ten times, and you still can't learn it! What a waste of my time!"
Time flowed slowly by in a cheerful atmosphere.
Yu Xuan cultivated his Soul Power in the mornings and went to the training hall to practice combat techniques in the afternoons. Before he knew it, two periods of twenty-five days had passed.
One day, Yu Luowu raised his hand and motioned for everyone to gather around.
"You've been learning combat techniques from me for fifty days. In another ten days, you can finish your training and graduate. Today, I'm going to test you. Demonstrate the ten commonly used kicking techniques for me, right here."